Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 641 - Jay Jones - When You Try To Market To Everyone You Market To No One

[00:00:12] Welcome to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, the number one podcast and resource for Black entrepreneurs. I'm your host Jay Jones and Black Entrepreneur Blueprint was created specifically to educate and inspire Black entrepreneurs to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses. Join us as we help build an economic power base in the worldwide Black community by building and supporting Black owned businesses.

[00:00:41] If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, you're invited to join us each and every week here at Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint episode number 641.

[00:01:08] I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show in store for you. Today's show topic is when you try to market to everyone, you market to no one. When you try to market to everyone, you market to no one. As entrepreneurs and salespeople guys, our job is hard enough as it is.

[00:01:29] But one of our biggest mistakes that I see is when we try to be all encompassing with our marketing and we actually end up losing sales by doing that. And today we're going to talk about the what, why and how of target marketing and what you need to do to exponentially grow your sales. Now, before we get to today's show content, let me just share a few things with the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint family.

[00:01:55] First and foremost, I want to welcome all first time listeners to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family. Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast and I'm going to share all my social media contact information and resource links such as the link to the website blackentrepreneurblueprint.com where we have all types of free resources to help you move from point A to point B. You guys know we're all about actionable steps. We're not giving you hype. We're not blowing smoke.

[00:02:25] We're not doing this smoke and mirrors nonsense. I want to give you actionable steps to move you from point A to point B. So when you go on the website, hit that learn tab and in that dropdown, we have all types of resources for marketing, mindset, e-commerce, anything you need to do to help elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Now, let's get ready for today's show topic. So today we're talking about something that's near and dear to my heart.

[00:02:52] So when you try to market to everyone, you market to no one. And so one of the biggest marketing mistakes entrepreneurs make, guys, is trying to sell to everybody. And they think that the fear of narrowing down your audience means that you're losing potential customers. But in all actuality, your messaging when it's too broad often connects with nobody. So you have to be more specific.

[00:03:17] So if you guys listen to the show for any period of time, you know that I teach continuing education in the mortgage space. So I have my own mortgage brokerage shop and I also teach all around the country. So I teach the CE courses, but I also add in marketing. So I was in Dallas a couple of weeks ago and I was just explaining that to a lot of the loan officers in there. We had over 160 people in the actual event.

[00:03:45] And afterwards, after I finished the day, people were coming up to me left and right talking about that because they want to be a jack of all trades. And a master of none. So we're going to talk about that. So today we're going to talk about the what, why and how of target marketing. And basically, we're talking about when you try to market to everyone, you market to no one. And I know many times that may sound counterintuitive.

[00:04:11] So one of the biggest things is you always have to understand that you're going to get ancillary business. And I'll talk about that in a minute. So it doesn't matter who you market to or who your verticals are. You're going to get ancillary business just because you're in the business. Also expectations. You are never going to sell to everyone. There's going to be people or verticals that you will not be able to sell to.

[00:04:39] And you have to recognize and understand that your product or service is not for everyone. So when you come out with the mindset of thinking, oh, man, I got to sell this to everybody. Everybody wants it. No, they don't. Okay. So you have to recognize that upfront that you're not going to sell to everybody. So let's talk about number one, the what. So what you're actually doing by not marketing to specific verticals, guys, is that you're

[00:05:07] not having the penetrating conversations you need to convert prospects into customers. I'm going to repeat that. The what. What you're actually doing by not marketing to specific verticals is that you're not having the penetrating conversations you need to convert prospects to customers. So when you speak in generalities, you're not hitting those pain points. Okay. You're not speaking to that customer where they are and you have to understand that.

[00:05:37] Now, I use the example at the Dallas event where I'm in the mortgage space. I focus on four verticals. Athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and real estate investors. Those are the four verticals that I market to. Now, do I do first time home buyers? Yes. Do I do other types of people, other verticals? Yes.

[00:06:03] And the reason I get those first time home buyers is because that's ancillary business. So for example, I just did several properties for a real estate investor and the gentleman's sister is a first time home buyer. Now, I don't market the first time home buyers because that's a different conversation. But the reason I got that business is because I was focusing on my vertical.

[00:06:29] So don't be so preoccupied to try to market to everybody. You're going to get ancillary business. So that's the what. Okay. Now let's talk about the why. The reason you need to speak to specific verticals is because when you do this, you can speak their language and address their specific concerns that they have and hopefully solve their specific problems. Okay. This is the why you want to do it so you can speak to specific verticals.

[00:06:57] The language is different. And once again, with the example I gave the language, I speak to a real estate investor with a seasoned real estate investor is totally different than the language. I speak to a first time home buyer. Okay. Now it may be a purchase. I'm talking about to a real estate investor for a purchase loan. I'm talking about a first time home buyer for a purchase loan, but the different intricacies

[00:07:24] of each transaction, the verbages difference, the language is different. The expectations are different. So if I just have one spiel or one sales pitch, guess what? You think I'm going to penetrate with that first time home buyer. If all I'm talking about is real estate investing, purchasing. No, that has nothing to do with that first time home buyer. That's trying to buy their primary residence. I'm selling the same product.

[00:07:52] It's a purchase mortgage, but the conversation is totally different. The solutions I'm providing are totally different. The problems or setbacks that they have are totally different. Okay. That is the why this is the why you try to market to specific verticals, not to everybody. When you try to market to everybody, your message is usually too broad, but we have that fear.

[00:08:19] We're going to lose out and we're not going to be able to get all the business we can. And in all actuality, what you're doing is counterintuitive and it's actually hurting you more than it's helping you. So we talked about the what the why, and now we're going to talk about the how. Okay. And this episode is going to be super short, but I want you guys to understand the impact of this episode. And I want you to make some specific changes after today's episode. And I'm going to give you guys some action steps.

[00:08:49] So we talked about the what and the why. Now let's talk about the how this, let's talk about some actionable things that we can do. First, I'm going to tell you what you need to look at, and then I'm going to give you some actionable steps. All right. So we talked about the problem when you have a generalized message, right? That message doesn't hit home to anybody. That message is generic and you're not hitting the pain points or solving specific problems of your market. Okay.

[00:09:19] In the mortgage business, I just gave you the example. You know, I work with athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs and real estate investors. They all can use purchase mortgages. They all can use refinances. So there's just some variances on the actual product. If you're a real estate investor versus buying a primary or residential home or refinancing your primary residence, but pretty much the products are the same conversation is totally different.

[00:09:48] So you have to have multiple touch points and content speaking directly to that vertical. You want to speak their language, solve their specific problems, and let them know that you understand them. Okay. This is the big key. And I've talked about this and I've done an episode on this many times, and I'm actually getting ready to do a masterclass on this called micro marketing.

[00:10:12] Micro marketing is creating content specifically for verticals and sub verticals of your target audience. Micro marketing. So many of the loan officers in that session, you know, and I asked them, who's your target market? Well, I do this. I do this. I do that. I said, okay, you do that. But who are you marketing to? Who are you actively seeking to become a client?

[00:10:38] So it's different from just putting out generic stuff and you'll have a first time home buyer come by. You'll have a refinance. You'll have a senior citizen that may want to do a reverse mortgage or whatever. You're a jack of all trades and a master of none. And that's the perception that you're going to have. When you focus on specific verticals or niches, then you become the master. And so it's easier to go deeper than it is wider. Okay.

[00:11:08] Once you dig in and hone in like for entrepreneurs, I do a ton of business with entrepreneurs in my mortgage business because number one, I'm an entrepreneur. I understand this situation. I speak their language. I know what products or services are best for them. So I'm living that real estate investors. I invest in real estate. So I know that market athletes and entertainers.

[00:11:32] I've been doing mortgages for athletes and entertainers, people that don't have the standard W2 income for years over 15, close to 18 years. I understand that market. Okay. Now it's hard to tap into that market. You know, you have to know, you know, people that are connected because it's hard to get in touch with athletes and entertainers, but a lot of them don't have consistent income.

[00:11:56] So I'm the guy that they come to, or one of the guys, I'm not the, the only guy, obviously, but I'm known in that space because I work with athletes and entertainers all throughout the country. Okay. Different sports, football, basketball, uh, even this NIL, uh, boxing, MMA, soccer, golf. So I've done loans for all of those, uh, professional athletes, those athlete types, real estate investors.

[00:12:25] You know, I've done all types of real estate investors from small guys, buying one house to people buying, you know, a hundred units, you know, so I have that experience. So with that, my expertise, I'm able to speak those languages. But when I market my mortgage company, I don't market generically. So I have multiple landing pages, which are, and I'll get into that in a minute, sales pages for specific things.

[00:12:53] For example, um, I just put up a landing page for, uh, foreclosure bailouts. If people are in foreclosure, they're about to lose their home. I based on their, their information, I may be able to get a loan form to get out of foreclosure. That is something that is specific. Okay. So I'm not going to just talk about, Hey, my mortgage company, I do refiles, purchases, blah, blah, blah. What kind of attention is that going to get me? None. None.

[00:13:23] Hey, if you're in foreclosure right now, you need help. Here's, you know, we may be able to help you bail you out to keep your house from getting foreclosed. That's specific. The language I speak to them in is specific. The problem they have is specific. It's not general in nature. So when I'm talking to them and when I'm putting out content for them, it is specifically for them. And really all it is, is a refinance, right?

[00:13:51] You're refinancing, paying off your, your bankruptcy. That's what it is in technical terms, but in marketing aspects and the marketing aspect, but I'm speaking directly to them for a foreclosure bailout. So they listen, they identified their problem. I'm trying to give them a solution. So guess what? My conversion rates are out of this world. Now, if I'm just talking in general, Hey, yeah, you want to refi and get some cash out? That's not really going to work. Okay.

[00:14:21] So micro marketing, having multiple landing pages or, or sales contacts, it doesn't have to be a landing page. It could be a podcast episode. It could be a white paper. It could be an ad specifically focused on focusing on certain verticals. Okay. So you, here's, here's some things with micro marketing. You can build separate landing pages. I have, I can't even count the number of landing pages.

[00:14:46] I have, I have landing pages for different types of people in different situations. Okay. And I'm focusing on my four verticals, athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and real estate investors. And I'll get ancillary business just because, just because I do a good job for people. They refer me people and I'm in the business and I'm mixing around. All right. Another thing is you can do with micro marketing. Number two, you can create different videos.

[00:15:16] A lot of times people don't like to read, right? They like videos. So if I'm in the mortgage business and I'm talking about foreclosure bailouts, I can do videos on foreclosure bailouts. And once again, YouTube is one of the biggest search engines out there. That's another way to speak. And in that video, I can speak directly to their problems and give them hopefully a solution. Another thing, and I'm big on this guys is quizzes. All of my landing pages have quizzes.

[00:15:46] You create quizzes that will help you identify your prospect and talk directly to them. So what are your objectives? How fast do you want to close? How many units are in this investment property? How much experience do you have doing investment properties? So basically you're qualifying or disqualifying the person through the quiz. Okay. But what they're telling you is what their problems are.

[00:16:13] And you now can tailor your answer to be those solutions. So creating quizzes. All of my landing pages have quizzes. Okay. They all have quizzes. You know, what are your, what's your objective? So for example, with the foreclosure bailout, has your foreclosure date been set yet? What's the property value? What's the property address? Do you have any equity in the property? And the other questions.

[00:16:41] So by the time I get that lead, I'm up to speed on what's going on. How fast do you need to close? Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. So what I'm doing guys is I'm not marketing to everybody. I'm marketing to specific verticals or specific niches that are in my space. Okay. Another thing you can do with micro marketing, you can actually ask your audience or your prospects what they want and what they need.

[00:17:09] So if you have a database, which I hope you do, you can ask your prospects, Hey, what do you want from me? Or what do you need from me? And remember guys that they may be two different things. What people want and what people need are usually two different things. I've been in people homes doing mortgages and they're like, yeah, I need to get cash out. I need to refi because I need to get a new car. Meanwhile, the ceiling is sitting there leaking, right? You not getting money to fix that ceiling, you know?

[00:17:39] So what they want versus what they need are two different things. So you have to uncover that. And there's an old saying and I, and one of my mentors told me, give the people what they want, right? You can tell them what they need, right? But if you give them what they want, then you're going to make, you're going to make sales. So somebody could say, Hey, I need to lose weight, you know, but I want that 18 inch extra large cheese state for dinner tonight. Right? So it's not necessarily what they want is, I mean, what they need is what they want.

[00:18:08] And so you have to be able to understand that. I was talking to one of my good buddies, um, this morning and we were talking about, and I always talk about this human psychology, right? Human nature. How important that is for sales. You have to understand human nature. And most times nature is going to lead people to do what they want more so than what they necessarily need. Okay.

[00:18:35] Because needing certain things a lot of times requires a lot of sacrifice. Okay. I need to get in shape that requires sacrifice, right? You know, versus, you know, man, I need to order that double cheese steak or whatever, blah, blah, blah from Ishka Bibbles. Right? So it's a difference. Understanding the psychology of people. Also understanding that everybody is not a customer. Everybody is not a customer. Get that through your heads, guys.

[00:19:05] You think you can sell your product to everybody, but you can't. You know, some people don't want it. Some people don't need it. And guess what? That's the truth. So focus on the verticals or the niches that make sense for your product or service. Now, before I get to the last segment where I'm going to give you guys some actionable steps, let me just share all my social media contact information and resource links. I mentioned at the top of the show, guys, go to the website, blackentrepreneurblueprint.com.

[00:19:35] Make sure you tap the learn tab. There's a dropdown. We have all type of resources free and paid mindset, strategy, marketing, e-commerce, side hustles, real estate, everything designed to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Go to blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. Now, if you want to get in contact with me, anything long, hit me on my email, jjones

[00:20:00] at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com, J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. Facebook, Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Instagram, I have two IG accounts. The first one is jjonesforreal, J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S, the number four, R-E-A-L. Second one is Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. LinkedIn, you can connect with me there.

[00:20:24] LinkedIn, type in jjonesblackentrepreneurblueprint or jjonessassfounder, S-A-A-S founder. You should be able to find me right there. What else? Oh, X. Connect with me there. jjones001, J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S-001. Also YouTube, guys. Make sure you hit that subscribe button. Go to YouTube. Type in blackentrepreneurblueprint. Hit that subscribe button. We have additional content on YouTube that is not on the show.

[00:20:54] Also, for all you first-time listeners, wherever you listen to this show or you're watching this show, please hit that subscribe button. We drop a new episode every Monday morning at 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on all your major podcast platforms and YouTube. So make sure that you get there and get that subscribe button so you will not miss an episode. Also, just an FYI, guys. My new website is coming out shortly.

[00:21:21] We've redone and revamped blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. And we have a whole lot of great resources on the new website that we're going to drop, hopefully, within the next 7 to 10 days that are absolutely free to help you move your business from point A to point B. So let's get ready for this last segment. So today we talked about when you try to market to everyone, you market to no one.

[00:21:46] So you need to change your mindset a little bit and make sure that you understand going deeper is more beneficial to you than going wide. Meaning you penetrate specific verticals and you're going to get deeper and more consistent business than trying to go wide. All right. Here's action step number one. Identify who your ideal customer is. Identify who your ideal customer is. And I'm going to give you another example.

[00:22:12] And I've said this probably 50 times on over these 600 shows. I used to sell insoles, right? Things you put in your sneakers or your shoes to help your feet. My youngest daughter, well, both of my daughters played field hockey. My youngest daughter had bad feet. And so we used to get our insoles that cost $300. Little did I know I could have bought the same insoles on Alibaba.

[00:22:38] Instead of $300 a pair that were prescribed by her doctor, I got them for $12 a pair. All right. Literally the exact same thing with a different brand on it, different label on it. So identify who your ideal customer is. So I started selling these insoles online and I was selling them to field hockey players. I was selling them to runners and I was selling them to waiters and waitresses.

[00:23:04] Now, the actual utility of the insole was the same. Guess what? It helps your feet from not hurting, right? But what's the conversation with a field hockey player? That's totally different from a conversation with a waiter or waitress and totally different from a conversation with a runner. So field hockey, hey, my daughter was a forward. She used to score a lot of goals. Hey, make sure your feet aren't hurting so you'll be able to run up and down the field, score more goals, help your team win, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.

[00:23:33] A waiter or waitress. The conversation is, hey, want to get more tips? If your feet are hurting, you're going to have a frown on your face. Make sure you get Jay Jones insoles. Your feet will be feeling fine like you're walking on a cloud. You'll have a better personality. You'll be smiling and you'll make more tips, all right? I'm just making this stuff up as I go through. But it was something like that. And also for a runner, okay? Hey, you know what? If you want to win the next race, you got to make sure your feet aren't hurting. Improve your time.

[00:24:01] Decrease your time by two seconds, ba-ba-ba. Whatever it is, win more races. Feel better about yourself. But same product, different conversation. And this is what I have to implore for you guys. So number one, action step number one, identify who your ideal customer is. Number two, are there sub-verticals or sub-niches within that one vertical? For example, I mentioned runners, right?

[00:24:26] So there's a difference between what a marathon runner wants and also what a sprinter wants, right? So you could even break it down there. So a marathon runner, it's longevity. They're going to be, you know, number one out there running a longer time. So you got to make sure your feet are good. You know, number two, you're a sprinter. So that's a short distance. So once again, are there sub-verticals? And if they are, that conversation needs to be different.

[00:24:53] Even though they're both runners, a sprinter is concerned about, you know, taking off the comfort level, being able to, you know, are these insoles going to weigh me down, slow my time down? Now, marathon runner may be more concerned about, you know, is this durable? Are these insoles going to last for, you know, if I'm running 26 miles or whatever, 13 miles for a half marathon? So once again, it's a runner, but there's sub-niches or sub-verticals.

[00:25:19] So are there any sub-niches or sub-verticals that you need to create content for? Okay. And the deeper you go, the more conversions you're going to get. And number three, I want you to create three benefits for each of your verticals. Create three benefits, write them down for each of your verticals. All right. So, so if it's a long distance runner, benefit number one, uh, may be, um, these insoles last for long periods of time. So the duration, so that's a benefit.

[00:25:49] What does that mean? You don't have to buy more expensive, uh, insoles because these last for a long time. Benefit number two, they're lightweight. Oh, what does that mean? Lightweight means it's not going to slow you down and it's not going to slow your time down. What's the benefit to that? You can run at the same pace that you're running now. Benefit number three, they're waterproof. So guess what? If you're running in the rain in this marathon and it gets rainy, these, these insoles aren't

[00:26:17] going to soak up water and they're not going to make, uh, slow you down and make your shoes heavier. Okay. Benefit number three. So that's it. So you have to understand, create three benefits for each vertical. And every time you create a benefit, you want to ask yourself, what does that mean? Lighter insoles. Okay. That's a feature. What's the benefit? The benefit is it won't increase the weight of your shoes and you'll still be able to run at the same clip at the same pace. All right.

[00:26:46] So you got to ask yourself, what does that mean to the customer? Okay. Product solution result. What's the product or service? What's the solution I'm providing and what are the results? Okay. So you got Jay Jones insoles. That's the product. The solution is it keeps your feet from hurting as a runner. The result is you can run faster times because your feet don't hurt and they're lightweight. All right.

[00:27:15] So you get the gist of what I'm saying, but your, your actionable step guys create three benefits for each vertical that you have. Identify if there are any sub verticals in there too, and write that down. And when you start to market, it could be, like I said, landing pages, it could be videos, it could be a white paper, it could be a quiz, whatever it is. You want to be able to speak to those pain points specifically for that vertical or that niche.

[00:27:42] So you're in, uh, so your conversions will increase. Stop being a generalist. And that's what today's show is about. When you try to market to everyone, you market to no one. All right. Now I say this each and every day guys, because it is true. We get more and more downloads because of you to be EB family. I appreciate you guys so much. Please continue to spread the word about the podcast, the ecosystem, the online courses,

[00:28:08] the books, everything designed to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Remember, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about us. It's about building an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses. Love you guys. See you same time next week. Peace.